Abstract

We propose an optical configuration of a horizontal-switching liquid-crystal
cell, consisting of a splayed liquid-crystal cell and uniaxial films, to improve the viewing
angle characteristics by compensating for the phase dispersion in a diagonal direction. The
optical design of the proposed configuration was performed on a Poincaré sphere with
geometric calculations. By fabricating in-plane switching cells with the introduced
configuration, we demonstrated their optical performances. As a result, we found
that the diagonal viewing angle of the proposed horizontal-switching cell could be increased
by
80% compared to a symmetrical viewing cone.

Optical configuration of the conventional horizontal-switching LC cell and polarization state of the
oblique incident light in the LC cell: (a) optical structure, (b) polarization path on the Poincaré sphere.
L1,
L2, and
L3 represent the transfer path of the polarization by the lower TAC, the cell, and the upper TAC
film, respectively.

Optical configuration of the proposed horizontal-switching LC cell and the polarization state of the
oblique incident light in the LC cell: (a) optical structure, (b) polarization path on the Poincaré sphere.